Atlanta Braves’ Freddie Freeman can’t be stopped for long
Maybe the Atlanta Braves stat guys weren’t in mid-season form Tuesday night?
It was declared multiple times during and after Tuesday’s Atlanta Braves game with the Rays that Freddie Freeman had never carried a golden sombrero (4 strikeouts) in a single game before. Close, but not quite…
Actually… it was the tenth time that had happened.
- 2011: June 12 vs. Houston (a Braves win)
- 2011: June 18 vs. Texas (yes, it happened just a week later!)
- 2013: April 26 vs. Detroit (Anibal Sanchez struck out 17 Braves in 8 innings that day)
- 2013: May 26 vs. the Mets (Shaun Marcum did it)
- 2013: July 26 vs. St. Louis (a Braves win over Adam Wainwright)
- 2015: May 26 vs. the Dodgers (yes, it was Kershaw)
- 2016: April 20 vs. the Dodgers again (a team effort that day)
- 2016: July 17 vs. Colorado (Braves win 1-0, but Jon Gray got him)
- 2016: Aug 5 vs. St. Louis (Jaime Garcia was pitching for them)
- 2020: July 28 vs. Tampa Bay
The first reaction you might be having now could be “Maybe he should never play on the 26th of a Spring or Summer month.” I’m going to ignore that one.
The next reaction you might have is “Wow – anybody every do that more often for the Atlanta Braves?”
Glad you asked: the answer is actually No. That includes every Braves/Doves/Beaneaters/etc. team over the entire history of this franchise. However, Freeman does currently share this “franchise record” of ten 4-strikeout games with Andruw Jones.
The next closest is Dale Murphy (7 times).
Seems that longevity with the team has its benefits… and pitfalls. Hey – that’s why Albert Pujols has more GIDP than anyone else ever (395). Happily, Hank Aaron doesn’t hold that record anymore (he’s now 4th all-time on that double-plays list).
The team record for K’s in a single game is 5 – the Platinum Sombrero, if you will.
Andruw is a member of that club. So also are Bob Sadowski, David Justice, Jason Heyward, Jeff Francoeur, Justin Upton, and Ozzie Virgil.
Freeman himself narrowly missed joining that group: during the second Dodgers game noted above, he had a 5th plate appearance. On a 2-2 count (and the 6th pitch of the AB), he barely made contact, nubbing a ball toward pitcher Chris Hatcher and was thrown out at first.
But documenting Freeman’s failures was actually not the point of this writing exercise. The question I wanted to answer was this: what did he do the next day?
Let’s find out…
Freddie Freeman’s ‘Next’ Games
June 13, 2011 vs. Houston (on the road). Not a great start: Freeman batted 5th and went 0-3 with a walk and another strikeout as the Braves lost to Wandy Rodriguez.
June 19, 2011 vs. Texas at Turner Field. The Braves bounced back and won 4-2 after falling in 10 innings the night before. Freeman also bounced back: 3 for 4 with an RBI and a double.
April 27, 2013 vs. Detroit at Comerica. The Tigers just had the Braves’ number, despite Atlanta coming into the series with a 15-6 record. Rick Porcello beat Kris Medlen 7-4 on this day, though Freeman himself came back with a 2-for-4 day, knocking in a run in the process.
May 27, 2013 vs. Toronto at the Rogers Centre. The Mets weren’t the opponent any longer, but Mark Buehrle beat Tim Hudson 9-3 while scattering 8 hits. Two of those came off Freeman’s bat: 2 for 4 again with 1 K and a run scored.
July 27, 2013 vs. St. Louis back home. This game featured a 2 hitter through 7 innings by Julio Teheran, though Luis Avilan got the win thanks to both Atlanta runs coming in the bottom of the 8th. Freeman walked twice and K’d once (scoring one of the runs), but did not get a hit in 2 official trips to the plate.
May 27, 2015 vs. Los Angeles… and Zack Greinke. Alex Wood actually matched Greinke and 2 late runs won it for the Atlanta Braves. However, Freeman took another collar: 0 for 3 with a walk and two more punchouts. Chris Hatcher took the loss.
April 21, 2016 against the Dodgers again. This was a tough one: a 2-1 loss in 10 innings.
Chris Hatcher figured in the decision once again… he got the win. Freeman went 1 for 4 with a walk and a strikeout amongst a curious lineup for Atlanta that included Erick Aybar, Daniel Castro, Adonis Garcia, and Drew Stubbs. Welcome to the rebuild.
There’s a bit more… along with the impressive totals…
Freeman’s Final Tallies
July 18, 2016 vs. the Reds in Cincinnati. Matt Wisler was blown out in the 4th inning as Cincy won. Freeman was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 more strikeouts.
This game actually marked seven straight strikeouts for Freeman dating across three games until he finally drilled a ground-rule double to right field in the sixth inning. That’s his longest-ever streak of strikeouts.
August 6, 2016 vs. St. Louis. Now he’s mad: in a 13-5 Braves drubbing of the Cardinals, Freddie was 3 for 3 with 2 walks, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored…. 5 times reaching base. He had struck out in 6 of his previous 7 plate appearances.
The Braves were 40-70 after this game, but at least this one was enjoyable.
In retrospect, Freeman might have been a bit more susceptible to the strikeout this season since he really didn’t have a great lineup around him and might have been ‘chasing’ more than usual.
His career-high in strikeouts did come in 2016: 171 (easily beating 145 in 2014). He was also walked a near-personal high of 89 (90 in 2014) that year as teams likely figured that he was the only real threat in the lineup.
Finally: last night, July 29, 2020 vs. the Rays. Freeman jumps out with a homer and double among 4 hits in 5 tries. He scored once and drove in 3 as the Braves finally solved the confounding Tampa Bay club.
OVERALL:
By my tally, you don’t really want to face Freddie Freeman after he’s been K’d a lot. In the games after a 4-strikeout game, he’s 18 for 39 (.462) with 8 walks, 9 K, and 8 RBI.
This is the mark of a really good hitter: to bounce back from a tough night by wrecking house the next chance he gets.
dark. Next. The new "Face" of the Braves?
Freddie Freeman has done that a lot more often than not. So glad he’s an Atlanta Brave.